You're Still That Girl
by daphrose
Summary: Watching Bree deal with losing her bionics was one of the hardest things Adam ever had to do. He hated seeing the pain it brought her. Adam would do everything in his power to comfort her. He wanted to remind her that she was still the same girl she always had been; that she was still his sister. (Songfic; based on the song "Still That Girl" by Britt Nicole.)


**Hi guys! I'm back with another songfic. Man, these are pretty fun! Unfortunately I can't put the lyrics into the story for you, but you can just look up the song on YouTube or something. The story is based off the lyrics of the song, so it might help if you hear them.**

**The song for this story is "Still That Girl" by Britt Nicole. I love this song (and the artist!) and I wanted to do a songfic for it, but I had no idea what to do. So my thoughts were, "Well, it's a girl . . . so which girl on Lab Rats?" Simple: Bree. Then I thought about what might make Bree change, and again, it was simple: the events of Three Minus Bree. Eventually the story wound up as an Adam-Bree brother-sister fluffy story (there's no romance!) because I wanted to do something showcasing their relationship.**

**So this story takes place after the events of Three Minus Bree/the beginning of Which Father Knows Best, and the very end of the story takes place after Which Father Knows Best. You guys are smart; I'm sure you can figure it out!**

**Hopefully you guys will like this story! There's a lot of sibling sweetness, so get ready! I don't own Lab Rats.**

* * *

*** * * You're Still That Girl * * ***

* * *

Hearing that Bree may never be bionic again was a huge blow to the family. That changed everything. Adam and Chase already knew that they couldn't do missions without Bree. They were at a loss without her. But even so, that wasn't what Adam was most concerned about.

Adam was concerned about Bree herself. Ever since she had heard the news, Bree had been acting strange. She was mopey and sad and it made Adam sad to see her that way. He couldn't even imagine how she must be feeling. Being bionic was a part of who Bree was; without that, she wasn't even Bree Davenport.

Bree spent most of her time on long walks outside – walks, not runs. She would put on an old, too-big sweatshirt and tie her hair back into a messy ponytail. Bree would leave for hours on end. Adam always worried that she would never come back. To his relief she did, but he still worried over her.

Didn't Bree know how special she was? Even without her bionics, she was still Adam's sister. Didn't she know that? Couldn't she see that? At least she had her family. Didn't she know that they were here for her?

Though, in some ways, Adam _could_ understand her behavior. She wasn't bionic – everything her life had revolved around was taken away. And Adam could tell that Bree blamed herself. Even though it was technically her fault, Adam didn't like seeing the way Bree beat herself up over it.

Was Bree beating herself up over it? Yes. Adam could tell it. Call it older sibling instincts, but he knew that Bree was angry at herself. Adam hated it. The thought of Bree being mad at herself made him sick to his stomach.

Sometimes Adam wished they could go back to simpler times. Times when it was just the three of them together in the lab. They loved each other so much. Not that they didn't now, but there was something special in those times.

Bree used to be so alert. Now she spent so much time looking at her phone. Bree used to be excited about hanging out with her brothers. Now she was embarrassed by them. Bree used to look up to Mr. Davenport. Now she just rebelled against him.

Not that Adam blamed her for any of that. Bree hadn't lost her personality; she had developed it. She was growing and maturing, even if the process of doing that meant spending less time with her family.

It wasn't even that. Times had been so simple when Adam, Bree, and Chase were little. They didn't have to worry about their secret being exposed, good grades at school, making friends, going to new places, or anything else. They were carefree and rather naïve. Adam missed that.

Most of all he missed Bree's smile. Yes, her smile. When she was little Bree had the most adorable grin. She still used it, of course. Adam had been missing it lately, though. Bree had barely smiled at all since she had lost her bionics. The few times she had smiled, it wasn't genuine.

Adam just wanted the old Bree back. He wanted the super-speedy, sarcastic, fun-loving girl back. When Bree destroyed her chip, Bree destroyed a part of herself. Adam knew that right away. When Bree realized that, she changed. Not in a good way.

* * *

For some reason, the oldest bionic had decided to go through old photos. Perhaps it was just for fun, though part of him was hoping to find one of those weird "supernatural" photos with creepy figures in the background; the kind people post on the internet. Alas, Adam found no such photos. He did, however, find a picture of a nine-year-old Bree.

The smile on the young girl's face made Adam smile as well. It was absolutely infectious. That was the smile Adam missed seeing on his younger sister's face.

In the picture, Bree was playing a bit of dress-up – as much as they could in the lab. She had on a big sunhat and a piece of plastic jewelry around her neck. Her brown hair was pulled into two braids. She was sitting on an old blanket with a few of her dolls beside her.

Bree's face had been captured mid-laugh. That was part of what made her smile so beautiful. She had a hand on her stomach and her whole demeanor was so happy. That little girl in the picture was so carefree. She didn't worry about anything, unlike the Bree Adam knew today.

This Bree was light-hearted and happy-go-lucky. This Bree was smiling all the time and would only _pretend _to be mad at her brothers. This Bree was completely enthralled by whatever her father decided to do for her. This was the Bree Adam missed so much.

"Hey Adam!" Bree called as she walked into the room and sat down beside him on the couch. "What are you doing?"

"Looking at pictures," Adam replied.

"Why?" Bree asked.

"Uh . . . Tasha needed some for her scrapbook," Adam lied.

"Oh, okay." For a few seconds everything was quiet. Then Bree said, "Is that a picture of me?"

"Yeah," Adam said with a grin, holding up the photo he had been studying. "I took that when I first got my new camera, remember?"

"That's one of the few pictures you actually got in focus," Bree giggled. "Most of them turned out horrible."

"Yeah, I know," Adam agreed, smiling at his sister's laugh. "But I never really cared. I, um, I never really cared about anything. And neither did you."

"Yup," Bree sighed. "Those were the days. We were all so happy and not upset by anything else in the world."

"I miss that," Adam said.

"Me too," Bree said. Adam could tell there was a lump in her throat. "But, I mean, oh well. What can you do?"

Bree stood up abruptly. She gave a half-hearted grin – not even close to the smile Adam had been hoping for – and turned to walk out of the room.

"Bree, wait!" Adam called. Bree froze and turned to look at her brother. "If you ever need someone to talk to, I'm here."

"Thank you Adam," Bree whispered quietly before leaving the room.

* * *

Adam walked out the front door, whistling quietly to himself. He swung the key ring around his finger as he walked to the car. But then he noticed something in the front yard: his sister slumped against a tree. Without hesitation Adam ran over, dropping to his knees beside Bree

"Are you okay?" he asked instantly.

"Yeah," Bree murmured. She was curled up in a little ball, knees against her chest and hands locked in front of her legs. "I was just thinking. Um, you know how you said I could always talk to you?"

"Yeah?" Adam asked, remembering their conversation earlier.

"I think I'm ready."

"Oh!" Adam exclaimed. "Awesome!" He quickly shoved the key ring into his pocket, but Bree still noticed.

"Oh, were you going somewhere?" she asked.

"Craig, Lucas, and I were gonna go bowling," Adam said. "But that can wait. I'll call them later and explain. They're not nearly as important as you."

"But I feel bad if–"

"Don't," Adam cut her off. "Don't feel bad. I really want to talk to you, Bree. So talk."

"Um, okay," Bree said. She bit her lip and wiped her eyes. "This is harder than I thought it would be."

"Just talk," Adam said. He got into a similar position as Bree, sitting right in front of her and watching her closely.

"Okay," Bree sighed. "It's just . . . I don't really know who I am anymore. I regret everything I did when I destroyed my chip. Everything, Adam. I don't feel like myself anymore. I was always Bree Davenport, part of the bionic superhuman team. I can't even be on the team anymore. If I'm not going on missions, saving lives, heck, even just _training _with you guys, I don't feel complete.

"It's like my whole world has been turned upside down. Everything is backwards instead of forwards and I don't know how to make sense of it all. My head is swimming just trying to think it through. It's so complicated and I can't find an answer no matter how hard I try. I just want things to go back to how they were: with all three of us as a team. I miss that. And Adam, I don't know what to do."

Adam just nodded and remained silent.

"Do you have anything to say?" Bree asked. "Any advice or something?"

Adam sighed. "I'm . . . thinking," he said.

"That's a first," Bree muttered to herself.

Adam just made a face and said, "I don't have a way with words like Chase does. I think I might be better at the whole 'listening' part. Still, I _am _the big brother, so I think I should give out _some _advice."

"That would help," Bree whispered.

"Um . . ." Adam said, scrunching up his face and trying to think. Man, this was hard! "Oh, wait, I got it! Remember that picture I was showing you earlier? Do you remember what else happened that day?"

Bree squinted for a second, then she smiled and let out a small laugh. "Actually, yeah, I do."

* * *

_"Smile!" Adam said as his finger pushed down on the button. Bree put her teeth together and flashed a large, cheesy grin._

_ Adam had just gotten a camera from Mr. Davenport a few days ago and was having loads of fun with it. He was taking pictures of pretty much everything, including his family members. Unfortunately, he wasn't very good at it._

_ "Man, it's all blurry!" Adam complained as he looked at it._

_ "Of course it is," Bree said as she straightened one of the dolls sitting on the blanket. "That's how they always are."_

_ "I want to do it again," Adam said. "Smile again!" Once more Bree flashed a cheesy smile. Adam looked at the photo and frowned._

_ "Bree, you look so weird!" the ten-year-old complained._

_ "What do you mean?" Bree asked with a frown._

_ "You look fake," Adam said. "This doesn't look like your smile."_

_ "Well what do you want me to do?"_

_ Adam pursed his lips. Then it came to him. "Bree," the older boy said slowly, "what do you call a fly with no wings?"_

_ "Um," Bree said, fiddling with the end of one of her braids. "I don't know."_

_ "A walk."_

_ Bree burst into laughter. Adam quickly took the picture in one of the seconds Bree was looking at the lens. He looked it over and grinned triumphantly. Her smile was genuine this time. Adam knew that corny jokes always made Bree laugh. He spent a lot of time asking Mr. Davenport for some so he could hear the laughter from Bree when she heard them._

_ "Shh, could you guys keep it down?" the third Davenport child called from his spot near the capsules where he was completely absorbed in his book. Adam and Bree frowned. Chase always ruined their fun._

_ Suddenly Bree stood up and walked over to Adam. She whispered something into his ear and Adam grinned devilishly. "Let's do it," he murmured to her._

_ The two oldest siblings walked up to their younger brother. Chase glanced up from his book for a second but quickly went back to reading it. "I'm busy," he said in an irritated tone. "What do you two want?"_

_ Without saying anything, Adam leaned down and stuck his camera in Chase's face. Before the younger boy could protest, Adam clicked down the button. The flash went off in Chase's eyes and the youngest boy screamed._

_ "Adam!" the eight-year-old cried. "Hey, I can't see!"_

_ Bree super-sped over to the other side of the lab, grabbed a glass of water, and sped back. She poured it onto the head of her half-blinded brother._

_ Chase blew the water off of his lips indignantly. "Adam! Bree!" he shouted. He rubbed his eyes and stood up. "Mr. Davenport! Mr. Davenport!" Chase ran out of the lab, screaming his father's name._

_ "He's such a crybaby," Adam said._

_ "Maybe that was a little mean," Bree said slowly._

_ Adam and Bree shared a look. "Nah!" they said together before bursting into a fit of giggles._

* * *

Adam was already laughing at the memory. Bree wasn't laughing quite as whole-heartedly as Adam thought she should, but she was chuckling quietly into her hand. It was a start.

"Bree, please know that you're very special to me," Adam said. "I love you so much. I couldn't live without you."

"Thank you, Adam," Bree said with a small smile.

"No, I'm serious. I don't know what I would do without you. Whether you believe it or not, you're special. You've always been there for me and I appreciate it. I love you so much, and if you don't know that then I've failed you."

"I know that you love me," Bree said. Her eyes shone with unshed tears. "I know, Adam. And I love you too."

"Then why are you so sad?" Adam asked. "Don't you know that no matter what happens to you, we'll still be there for you?"

"I . . ." Bree started to say something, but she got choked up and trailed off.

Adam continued, "Even without your bionics you're still special. You're sarcastic and sweet and funny. You are loud and you tolerate me and Chase and Leo – most of the time. You always know what to say. Even when you're teasing me, you find the most creative ways to do it. It's awesome and I love that."

"Thank you," Bree murmured.

"Oh, heck no!" Adam cried.

"What?" Bree asked, jolting her head up suddenly.

"I'm not even _close _to finished!" Adam said.

"Okay, okay, go on!" Bree said, motioning for her older brother to continue.

Adam cleared his throat before saying everything else he wanted to. "Earlier I was thinking that you've changed since you lost your bionics. And maybe that's true. I kept thinking, 'I miss the _old _Bree!' But I don't think she's gone. I think you're just . . . um . . ." Adam tried to think of a good word to use. _What would Chase say? _"Suffocating – yeah, suffocating. That's good. You're suffocating her. I think you are still the same girl you've always been, you're just _choosing _to change. And I don't understand why.

"Even without your bionics you are still you. So you can't super-speed. Big deal! I mean, I would miss my strength if it suddenly went away someday. How would I toss Chase around? But honestly, Bree, you still have a personality. A personality that wasn't wired into you with your chip.

"I don't think your peppiness came from your chip. You're smart and cute and fun to be around. Everyone likes you. You like to move fast, but you know how to stop and enjoy the moment. You're dependable, even if it doesn't seem like it sometimes. You might be headstrong and clumsy and you don't always think things through – I mean, you _did _destroy your chip – but you're great anyway. We can overlook any flaws because . . . first of all, everyone has them. And second of all, you make up for it with all your amazingness. Okay, _now_ I'm done."

For a few seconds Bree was quiet and Adam wondered if he had said something wrong. Then Bree said, "Wow. You're sure you don't have a way with words?"

"Maybe it was the cereal I had for breakfast," Adam said with a shrug. He flashed a goofy grin and Bree smiled back. "You're still the same girl you always were, Bree. If nothing else, you're my sister. I love you."

Without warning, Bree threw herself onto Adam. For just a second he was stunned, but he quickly accepted it. Adam wrapped his arms around his younger sister. He could feel the hot tears that were spilling from Bree's eyes onto his shoulder. Adam gave Bree a quick squeeze that she returned. They sat like that for several moments, Bree's body shaking from silent sobs.

"Thank y-you, Adam," Bree hiccupped finally. But she still didn't let her big brother go. "I love you so much. Thank you."

* * *

When Bree super-sped into the room, Adam felt his heart lift. The smile on her face was all he needed to see. Bree was back. Hearing what she had gone through to get her bionics back made him wince, but somehow he just pretended that it didn't happen. Bree was fine now and she was here, bionics fully restored.

Later that night Adam and Bree were alone in the kitchen. Bree was bustling around for an evening snack, talking on and on about some girl named Katharine who was going out with Pete and causing problems for Robbie and Mackenzie . . . Adam stopped listening halfway through. He just focused on Bree.

Bree's chocolate brown eyes were so full of life. That spark of happiness had returned. She was using her super-speed over and over again, even for simple tasks like finding a spoon for her cereal. She was that excited to have her bionics back.

Bree's smile was the other thing that stood out to Adam. It would not go away. And this time it _was _genuine. The pearly white teeth were clearly visible as Bree continued to talk about random high-school drama while pouring the milk into her bowl.

"It's good to have you back, Bree," Adam said, cutting off Bree's long rant about Tanner and Sara.

Bree glanced up, surprised to be interrupted. Nonetheless, her smile widened. "It's good to be back, Adam."

* * *

**Aw, the fluff! :3 Did you guys like it? I'm sorry if Adam and/or Bree seemed OOC. I had a bit of hard time with Adam. But I'll be honest, I think he has his moments of wisdom. Sure, they're rare, but I think they happen. You just have to pay close enough attention. ;)**

**So, what did you think? My second songfic! "Still That Girl" is a wonderful song and I hope you listened to it while reading. Or, if you didn't, I hope you'll listen to it later. It's a fantastic song.**

**Don't forget to review/favorite if you liked it! Please check out my other stories if you haven't already, and I'll see you all again soon! Bye!**


End file.
